Lack of dreams - what does it mean / impact?

[johnram]

I am aware people often have flashbacks etc during their sleep, but i am quite the opposite, in that i have no dreams whatsoever and havent done for a long time. 
Started to question what that means for my memory processing / health etc, but generally what it means psychologically and open to any thoughts / comments please

[saylor]

It may mean you're not sleeping deeply enough to enter REM, which is where dreaming happens. Or maybe you are someone who just tends not to be able to remember dreaming

[Rainagain]

I would guess you dont remember your dreams.

A friend of mine has a wristwatch synched to her phone (fitbits?) Which records sleep including periods of rem sleep.

I have no idea how much they cost but the nightly chart it displays looks accurate and it might be worth looking into

[bluepalm]

Johnram, many years ago, when I started psychoanalysis and became aware of how my dreams really were a 'royal road to the unconscious', and therefore hugely helpful in prompting me to understand what was troubling me, I deliberately focused on trying to remember and record my dreams. I kept paper and a pencil by the bed and if I woke and was aware of anything to do with a dream I'd write down key words, even without turning on the light. Over time I developed  my ability to remember dreams well and in detail but I still need to deliberately focus hard on capturing most of them immediately I awaken - even waiting a few seconds can mean they are lost. I hope my experience might be helpful to you. I definitely believe capturing and being able to spend time thinking about the meaning of dreams is like finding gold nuggets in the quest for resolving painful experiences.
bluepalm

[Regret]

Johnram

I agree with bluepalm.

In my experience over the past few years, my dreams come and go in spurts. I can have 3 in one night that I remember without writing down and then none for weeks. I can have a dream, wake up, remember it, fall back asleep and have that dream continue or have a totally different dream. And upon getting up, I can remember all 3. And, what seems to be a long dream can occur in a few seconds of sleep - time is not the same.

My dreams are in 3 categories: 1) those I don't remember at all, don't remember dreaming; 2) those that I remember for a few fleeting moments or minutes; and 3) those that I can remember for a long time without writing them down, decades for some of them.

I've felt that the dreams I don't remember at all are those that my mind decides I am not intended to remember. The significant dreams I remember for a long time are pleasant and usually deal with building renovations, change. The ones I barely remember for a few seconds or minutes are disturbing in some way and wish I had not had them. And those I don't remember at all other than having a feeling some time after waking up that I had a dream but nothing about it.

I've tried to write down my dreams but found either I don't dream with the paper and pen next to my bed or what I write down does not make sense days later, the feelings from the dream are gone so the dream in words alone does not make sense.

Had a dream a month ago about my father doing something great. The crowd was cheering and he was happy and waving at the crowd. I was in the crowd watching him and felt good for him. I woke up happy, with a smile on my face, glad for him to have been happy, finally. I haven't dreamed about him since. That may have been my mind putting closure on my feelings toward him. I remember that dream and every detail of the location as if it happened last night.

I've also found that sleeping on my back is the only way I can have dreams, but that may just be me.

I don't try to interpret my dreams, just feel them. Feelings can tie different dreams together and as bluepalm said, dreams are a way to help understand what may be troubling a person. Several dreams over a short period of time with the same feelings are a good indication to me of what is going on in my head, my personal neuroplasty, and what may be changing in my waking life.

I realize this is just me and my dreams. Everyone dreams differently. Posting this hoping it helps a few with their dreaming.

[johnram]

Thank you Bluepalm / Regret

i appreciate what you both say, and think my dreams are sometimes revealed to me, but rarely.  when i started EMDR i was told it was like my trauma had blocked it out also, and it would come back but may take a while.
hasnt come back yet but recently had better sleep

i think once they do come back i hope to write them down, as you are right, the insight from the unconscious can be really revealing, as i have found from EMDR

thank you

[Just Hatched]

but i am quite the opposite, in that i have no dreams whatsoever and havent done for a long time. 

For most of my life I've experienced vivid dreams and usually remembered them, they have been one of the more positive aspects of my life. But during the 13+ years I was taking SSRI type antidepressants, I hardly dreamed at all, my dream life basically stopped.

But when I came off my medication, the dreams came back with a vengeance, that was actually one of the first 'symptoms of antidepressant withdrawal' that hit me. I was having vivid, epic dreams that lasted all night. My sleep was badly disrupted, it was like my brain was trying to catch up with all the missed dreaming.